BY NATURE consists of 36 diptychs based on 72 hand-coloured engravings by the artist and female entomological pioneer Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). The original engravings are the result of Merian’s scientific observation and artistic interpretation of the process of metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly in Surinam. They are regarded as her magnum opus and got published under the title Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium in 1705. Only very few complete copies have come down to us, among them this unique example of 1725 put together for King Louis XV of France. In the 300 years of its storage, those illustrations have bled through the pages, resulting in double-page spreads which got photographed by Sinje Dillenkofer and translated into the context of contemporary art.

Box, 39 x 51 cm, silk binding, colored embossing, 8 diptychs on 8 leaves, each 38 x 50 cm, each image 30 x 20 cm, fine art archival pigment print on Japenese rice paper, edition of 4, 2019